We were about 7 miles into a ten mile run over the weekend in Barrington, in rainy, foggy, miserable conditions when we approached the biggest hill on the course. I was feeling like I wanted to challenge myself a little, so I ran hard up the hill. I reached the top with the four other guys I was running with well behind. Unfortunately, that left me in 'no-man's land". That's because, according to our unwritten rules, I had to keep going at the pace I had set to get up the hill. Racing up the hill, and then stopping at the top is not cool in our book. So even though it was a somewhat impulsive move to run hard for a short time, once I made the move, I was then bound to continue. Regardless of how I was feeling. And I wasn't really feeling too good.

But that's just the way it goes in this group. If you want sympathy, go to church. It got me thinking about the many unwritten rules we have in the group of guys I have been running with for years. It's sort of like our running etiquette, except that there is really nothing rude about not following our rules, unless you are in our group. And then you simply don't violate the rules.

On this day we were in a somewhat celebratory mood. First, it was the weekend after Christmas, and just being out there put us ahead of the curve. It was also the first time in a while a couple of my former high school teammates, and our former coach were able to get together for a run. And, finally, it was the first time our friend Tom was able to run with us since tearing his Achilles tendon in the spring. This was a real milestone for him.

All of us, when in good shape, run a somewhat comparable pace. On this day, however, we were all in various stages of fitness. So we agreed to go out the first few miles at an easy, 'social' pace.

As I described this to my wife later, I realized there is a difference between our group runs on weekends, and the ones she has done with some of her girlfriends as part of the Chicago Endurance Sports training group. Her group run eventually became almost purely social. They would talk throughout the runs, catching up on each other's lives.

There is an element of that to the runs I do with my group of friends as well, but generally it's only for the first five or so miles. After that, it's every man for himself. It's an interesting dynamic, because we are all great friends, but are also highly competitive, and running to reach our own training goals. We want to challenge ourselves in the context of running with our friends.

That's what has led to the set of unwritten rules we have developed over the years. I have run with enough other groups to realize that every group seems to have it's own variations of those rules. With other groups I notice different dynamics and customs. I probably violate their rules, and have no idea. As for this group of friends, it's not something we have ever talked about, until I called Tom before writing this entry to ask for his input.

We determined there are several rules we seem to have followed for years. In Barrington, for instance, we tend to run together until we reach 'the church' which is at the 8 mile mark and where we usually stop for water. Then, we regroup, and usually we spread out a bit as we tend to push ourselves the last four miles to finish. Each of the four or five regular routes we run have their own particular markers, but the general guidelines are the same. And they have become entrenched enough that we all understand them without discussion.

We always start out together for at least the first half of the run. Depending on which of the courses we are running, there are different markers signifying where we might begin to separate. In Barrington, generally that means five miles in. On the Prairie Path, it usually isn't until at least 7 miles in. At Waterfall Glen, it's usually not until the 8 mile point.

Until those spots, we tend to run in a group and settle into a pace that we all live with regardless of our own desires to speed up or slow down. During this time we are able to get caught up on significant events in each others lives. Stuff like weddings, babies, work, as well as sports and politics. Especially sports and politics. Ya know, the important stuff.

But later in the run, someone inevitably, starts feeling good and pushes the pace. Often he will ask how the others are feeling, to see whether anyone wants to go with him. That's when the response comes, "go ahead, I know my way back to the car." Of course, that response is an invitation to the person who feeling good that he should go ahead and take off. But it's no guarantee that the one who lags behind initially won't decide to put on a major kick and try to pass him later. It's a game of cat and mouse we play every weekend, and, it often pushes us to run harder than we would otherwise.

On this day, because of that surge up the hill, I ended up having to run the last three miles mostly by myself. That was until my friend Mark decided to kick to the front and pass me in the last mile! But, at least, (according the 'rules') once he passed me, he kept going hard to the end. He even invited me to finish hard with him. But I said, "go ahead, I know my way back to the car." Or something like that.

Anyway, I'm interested to know some of the 'rules' you follow in your group runs. That's what the comment section is for. And, by the way, I won't even pretend to know the rules for the Lakefront during the summer when we runners have to share the path with large training groups, cyclists and roller-bladers. That's really crazy!

We were maybe four miles into our run Saturday morning, dealing with cold temperatures and poor footing from the ice and snow, when one of the runners mentioned the old adage, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Well, I don't think any of us were in mortal danger, but we were feeling good about being out there on a relatively miserable morning. And it was a holiday weekend to boot. Is there extra credit for that?

The answer, of course is no. That's what we Midwesterners signed up for when we decided to live here. I know many of us were born into it and there was no decision involved. But hey, we don't have hurricanes anyway right? Seriously though, the weather lately has been a real challenge. Maybe I'm getting early Alzheimer's, but I don't recall December being so miserable. It seems like we've already had all the extremes of winter in the space of a couple weeks. It's been frigid cold with temperatures below zero and wind chills much worse. And we've had some pretty big snowfall totals already also.

As I hear from people all the time when I do weather stories, "This is Chicago, what do you expect?". And, as one who has lived for several years in the southwest, I can testify that the Midwest winter builds character that I rarely saw in the people out there. But it's not much of a recipe for running well outside, though it is possible. I've been managing to get some miles in outside, as have lots of others, judging by the large groups I saw Saturday morning. Chicagoans are pretty resilient in general, and Chicago runners are especially strong. It never fails that when I run in what I think are nearly unbearable conditions, I see at least a few others out there.

Most runners know that if you dress for the winter weather you are only cold for the first few minutes before you warm up nicely. That's not to say it's toasty, like being curled up in front of the fireplace, but we are talking about pretty good physical exertion after all. And it always feels really good, almost smug, when we get finished. It's like we took on Mother Nature, and won.

That's a great feeling, but sometimes it's just not possible. Much to my chagrin. A few days ago on one of the occasions we got a lot of snow, I wrote in my facebook page that I was glad I had run that morning before the snow made things much more messy later. I got a few comments about that, including one from a running friend who wrote, "You must really hate the treadmill".

Yeah, the treadmill is an option when it's nasty outside, but it's really the last option. And, sometimes we get down to that last option, as you can tell from the picture. Sunday, I was dealing with the effects of a cold, and the fact that it was below zero, and I had a small window available for running. Blah, blah blah. So I gave in. The truth is that we do have a treadmill in our home. My wife uses it occasionally, and, in a pinch, it's there for me as well.

So I took advantage, but I promise it was one of those rare occasions. Really.

Enjoy the weather and all the character building and I'll see you on the roads next time.....

The email went out to members of the Elmhurst Runner's club on Friday morning. Several of the runners who had completed the Memphis marathon the week before, along with a few others who had done other races, would meet to run an 'easy ten' miles the next morning. It was to be the proverbial 'victory lap' to celebrate the completion of a big race for most of them. Since I've been doing ten mile victory laps for several weeks now following my November 2nd marathon in New York, it sounded good to me.

I have run with most members of the group before during summer marathon training. They are all good runners, whose training runs are at 8:00 pace or under. Most of those runs were out and back routes on the Prairie Path. But this was different. The path was still completely iced over, and pretty hazardous for running. So we planned to stick to the streets. And since I was basically lost after the first turn, I had to pay close attention, and make sure I stuck with a group, or I might wind up going much further than ten miles because I would be lost.

In any case, I heard about the races some of them had run. Stephanie was thrilled to break 3:30, something she has been capable of for some time, but just hadn't had the conditions and her fitness come together all on the same day. Amy and Lori chalked up another solid race. They both have run several other marathons in the last couple of months and found this one to be a good experience. And then there was Kurt.

I had heard about him before. He is a really talented masters runner who happens to be blind. He had just returned from the California International marathon, where he ran his P.R. of 2:50. And he's 47! I'm not sure which part of that is the more amazing statement. Obviously, it is difficult to run a crowded marathon course when you can't really see it. He says water stops are a huge challenge. And at nearly 45, I feel like I'm well past the days where I can even think about running a P.R. Kurt didn't really think about it, he just went out and did it!

Here is an excerpt about Kurt from the Boston Globe before he ran the Boston marathon this spring:

Born with a condition that left him without irises, Fiene, 46, has no vision in his right eye and 20/400 vision in his left, putting him into the B3 category. B3 runners are prohibited from using guides. During the later stages of a marathon, Fiene struggles with vision in his good eye. "My eyes get tired and a little blurrier because I've got to watch a little more than most people do for cracks or holes or people cutting in front of me," said Fiene. "But who can see straight at 20 miles?"

Fiene relies on his good eye and the crowds lining the course to keep on track. In smaller, more rural races, Fiene has missed turns and gotten lost many times.

At water stations, Fiene must slow almost to a stop and grab a cup by both hands, otherwise he doesn't get enough water and risks dehydration. Fiene often runs without the benefit of knowing his mile times. Sometimes he simply can't see mile markers and therefore doesn't know when to check his watch. At Boston, Fiene benefits from rubber mats placed across the road every 5 kilometers to record data from timing chips used to track runners' progress. The mats, in combination with a talking stopwatch that announces elapsed time with the push of a button, will enable Fiene to better pace himself.

"Running is a sport I can do on my own and that's why I got into it," said Fiene, who was a medalist at the International Paralympics Committee World Championships in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters before focusing on the marathon. "I play golf, but I can't go to the golf course by myself because I can't see where the ball goes off the tee. If I know the area where I'm running, I don't need somebody with me."

A couple miles into the run a few of us who were feeling a little more fresh separated from the others, and found ourselves running ahead of the people who knew the route. For a while they called from behind, "right turn ahead" or "keep left". But eventually we lost contact with them, and of the four of us, only one runner was familiar with the route. It was Kurt. So, yeah, the blind runner led the three sighted runners through the winding route along the streets of Elmhurst.

Apparently Kurt knows what he's doing, because we made it back with no problems. We all had an enjoyable run, and I got one more little bit of inspiration to remember when I start feeling like I want to take it easy during the latter stages of a race.

By the way, his P.R. apparently makes Kurt the fastest legally blind marathon runner in the country. He's planning on running Boston in the spring, and Runner's World is doing a story on him for an upcoming issue.

Right. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas and all that. Ok, so I don't get to be sarcastic on the news! But the timing could hardly be less inspiring. After pondering it for several weeks, I sent in my application for the Boston marathon earlier this week. I vowed that if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna try to make sure I'm in good shape to run it well. That means speed work. In the winter.

Well, last weekend it was a little cold, but nothing that would get in the way of training. I took this picture of a bundled up runner on the Prairie path in Elmhurst. I figured I could hit the prairie path a few times starting in late January and do some tempo runs, or maybe even some mile repeats. I haven't done those in a while, and I believe they're the best way to get me ready to run a good marathon.

So I was getting psyched. Then I woke up this morning to three inches of fresh snow to go along with the couple inches that were already on the ground from earlier in the week. I knew the forecast had called for that, and changed my plans accordingly. Four friends from my High School Cross-country team were meeting up and we were planning to introduce two of them to the path at Waterfall Glen. With the snow and ice, however, we decided to skip that and instead go out to the Prairie Path starting in West Chicago. We figured at least that is flat and may be less slippery.

Oops. I guess we were wrong. One of the guys bailed before we even left in the morning. That left four of us intending to go ten miles. Once we got out there, we realized it was going to be one of those 'survival' days. The snow was deep, and it was slick. Judge by the lack of footprints, we were the first to venture out on the path this morning. Everyone else was much smarter I guess. We made it about 9.5 or so and congratulated ourselves.

The problem with running in the winter, especially the snow, is that it's tough to run fast because you can't really push off very well on slick footing. That means you run more upright than normal, and use muscles that you probably ignore during the other three seasons of the year.

That can be good for your core training. You tend to use stabilizer muscles in your mid-section a little more. My hips, for example, were a little sore after the run this morning. That can help prevent injuries later on.

But I'm more concerned about my fitness level. I've only run a couple of spring marathons and have never really trained that hard for them. My objective has been, basically, to get in good enough shape to finish them in respectable time. This time around, however, I want to have a better experience in Boston, and run a little faster. So I'm praying for a heat wave in January. Or that the station sends me to Arizona for a month for stories about Cubs spring training.

Ok. Well I'm dreaming a bit. But I hate the treadmill, so that's not an option. I'm gonna have to figure out something. If you have any ideas... please leave them in the comment section.